the sky near the white house. good evening. i'm jim vance. >> i'm doreen gentzler. president obama said the approaching fiscal cliff will add to the holiday stress for american families. the president did not meet with congressional leaders on the fiscal cliff, instead, he met with a local middle class family. danielle lee joins us from capitol hill. danielle? >> reporter: doreen, president obama said he's highlighting the impact of tax heights on the middle class. there's growing pressure to stop the campaigning and sit down face to face. avoiding the bickering on capitol hill today, president obama headed to northern virginia. he sat down with tiffany santana and her family to put a face on the fiscal cliff. >> for them to be burdened unnecessarily because democrats and republicans aren't coming together to solve this problem, gives you a sense of the costs involved in very personal terms. >> reporter: tef any had used twitter to tell the president her family can't afford a tax increase. and the white house released

this video. >> $2,000 for me would be paying a month's rent. >> reporter: back in washington, more gridlock. >> it's up to the republicans to decide how long it's going to take. >> the president actually isn't interested in a balanced agreement. >> reporter: with both sides stuck on tax hikes for the top 2%, economists wonder if lawmakers will reach a deal this year. >> i'm skeptical, but i do think it can be done next year. >> reporter: warning a congressional committee they would just have a month to negotiate in 2013 before the economy falls apart. >> by mid-february it will be doing a lot of damage. >> reporter: democrats called on lawmakers to continue an extension to jobless benefits expiring this year. >> now they're at risk of losing their last lifeline. >> reporter: 25 days left, no deal yet. republicans have word they may be losing ground on the tax hike

debate. the latest poll shows the majority of voters actually trust the president and democrats on the issue. reporting live on capitol hill, i'm danielle lee, news4. the santanas live in the falls church area in fairfax county. they did not expect to get a visit from the president just because they shared their story. julie carey sat down with them and asked what it's like now to be in the middle of this fight over the fiscal cliff. . >> reporter: the house you see behind me isn't exactly where tiffany santana and her extended family live. their door is around back. it leads to the basement apartment they rent for $2,000 a month. and today they became the face of middle class america. step through the door of the santana household and it's clear to see president barack obama was a presence here even before his visit today. the family had these life size cutouts of the president and first lady made for a neighborhood campaign event. mr. obama's photo sits among

family shots and his book is on the shelf. actually having the president sitting at your table? that was something else. >> it's so overwhelming to know that the leader of the free world is sitting at your kitchen table. >> if you could say, okay, you died and went to heaven, i ain't dead, but i'm still riding high. this is awesome. >> reporter: that's postal worker jimmy. his wife is a home day care provider. and daughter tiffany santana is an english teacher at marshall high school. she replied to the white house's media campaign to explain what would happen if congress and the president can't come to terms, and an added $2,000 per family tax hike comes their way. the families came together as one household a few years ago to help make ends meet. and to provide the best life for 6-year-old noah. >> $4,000 a year for us is two months' rent. it is our son possibly not being able to do some of the extracurricular things he likes

to do, like tae kwon do. >> reporter: she hopes the administration's decision to use their family as a middle class example could change minds on capitol hill. >> i think sometimes they're forgetting that. that what they are doing behind closed doors, what they are doing in congress, affects me, my face. >> reporter: the family's message to the president? >> mainly the fact that we support him. and to get our point across to him that we are actually doing our part as middle class americans. >> and doing their part as middle class americans for this family also means charitable giving. the family had a stack of christmas presents inside the apartment today, headed to less fortunate children. they say if they are hit with a tax hike, that's something else they'll probably also have to cut back on. julie carey, news4. a popular figure in the tea party movement is stepping down

from congress. senator jim demint of south carolina today announced that he's resigning effective january 1st. he said he's doing it to become president of the heritage foundation. he said he decided to step down at a time when the movement, he said, needs strong leadership. south carolina governor nikki haley will choose an interim successor for demint's seat. the top lawyer will resign effective december 31st. he shared with authorities the e-mails between general john allen and jill kelly during the david petraeus scandal to the pentagon inspeor general. johnson, the general counsel, said for a while he would leave after the president's first term. he plans to get back into private practice. the fbi wants to move its headquarters off pennsylvania avenue in northwest d.c. and now there's a regional battle over where it will go. d.c., prince george's county, and northern virginia all are making a play for the agency to

be headquartered there. news4 has learned that the redskins stadium could be involved. tom sherwd now with more on this. >> jim, the district wants to keep the fbi in town. but could it trade the fbi for the redskins? a regional battle has broken out among d.c., virginia, and maryland, over which jurisdiction would land any new fbi news4 has learned that d.c. officials proposed a unique deal to prince george's. saying it would support moving the fbi to prince george's county, if that county allowed s lease and move back to washington. d.c. council finance chairman wouldn't discuss those private talks but acknowledged the city's interest. >> certainly the idea of a switch for the fbi moving to prince george's county, and say the redskins moving back to the city in a brand-new stadium at rfk, would be something i would certainly be interested in. >> reporter: in a written response to news4, prince george's county executive

rashurn baker rebuffed the idea. the baker administration is not entertaining any discussions around moving the washington redskins back to washington, d.c. the fbi with its large work force and space needs is a prime target for all three jurisdictions. earlier this week, virginia's democratic and republican congressional leaders wrote a letter to federal officials saying northern virginia should get the prize. >> we have a lot of federal agencies already here in northern virginia, including, of course, the pentagon. the largest federal agency. right down the road is the quantico training center for the fbi. >> reporter: the fbi headquarters downtown has a hyper-security focus. it creates a dead space along pennsylvania avenue just blocks from the capitol. now that the fbi is looking to move to a bigger and better space, regional business leaders say there's new hope the dead fbi block can be rebuilt with businesses, condos, retail and night life. >> this would be a very big shot in the arm to downtown washington to better utilize

that space, and god help us, not that building. >> not that building. the federal government is just in the early stages of deciding the fbi's future. so all three jurisdictions are negotiating, hoping for, trying to work out ways they can get it. and the skins is just a little part of it. >> hope is the key word, i guess. >> everybody has to have hope in this holiday season. >> thank you, tom. >> merry christmas, tom. three, two, one! >> star-studded night down on the ellipse tonight, not to mention the twinkling with the christmas lights just a few minutes ago. the first family lit the national christmas tree. doug kammerer joins us live from outside the white house. hey, doug. >> reporter: hey, doreen. just a beautiful night out here tonight. a little on the cool side. we've got the fray playing behind me right now. you can see they're playing right now. interesting story here, they're

with the president. the president ran into them and said, guys, you need to come down here and play at the national christmas tree lighting. of course, the band said, yeah, we'll look at our calendar. no problem, mr. president. we'll be there for you. we just had jason mraz just get done playing. and we show you the fray is now playing right now. and they're playing santa claus is coming to town. a little bit earlier it was actually phillip phillips. we have the video that came out earlier. the "american idol" winner from last year. and he came out a little bit earlier and was singing, too. we're seeing performer after performer. these are all very big names that are going on right now. lead singer of the fray, just asked the president if you've been good this year. i'm not sure. this is pretty good. i tell you what, guys, 20,000 people that are out here tonight, a beautiful, beautiful evening. they sold 3,000 seated tickets. they sold 14,000 tickets for standing room only. of course, they did bring all those people here, so again,

nearly 20,000 people out here right now. let's take a look and show you what's happening weatherwise across the region. as we talked about a little bit earlier, it's on the cold side, but not too bad right now. take a look at the numbers. already in the 30s in many locations. that's where we're going to be over the next couple of hours as we continue to drop down closer to the freezing mark in many of the outskirts. look at the radar picture. one thing you're going to notice is the rain coming in from chicago. coming in from the south and west of us. that area of rain will move in overnight tonight. by tomorrow morning, we are expecting some shower activity to greet you on your rush hour. so you might wake up to temperatures starting off in the low to mid-30s tomorrow morning. just a slight chance for some showers. once again, live from the ellipse and the national christmas tree lighting, i'm meteorologist doug kammerer. merry christmas to you guys, too. >> that was good. >> you've still got james taylor to look forward to out there, doug. a big night. >> reporter: it's a huge night. >> all right.

doug kammerer, we'll check back with him a little bit later. an aide at a school is facing child sex abuse charges in maryland. today police in howard county arrested 37-year-old clarence taylor. he's accused of inappropriately touching three students at the maryland school for the deaf in columbia. the girls say taylor touched them inappropriately several times when he worked the evening shift as a dormitory aid, between 2008 and 2010. the girls were 10 and 13 years old at the time. police say there could be more victims. in the meantime, that school has suspended taylor. today a federal grand jury indicted a fairfax county teacher on child pornography charges. his name is robert fen. the 27-year-old taught at poplar tree elementary school in chantilly. police arrested him back in june. they say he visited pornography websites and he faces up to 30 years in prison if he's convicted. a 17-year-old student in

montgomery county brought a gun to school this morning. police arrested octavio estevez at magruder high school in rockville. he was not supposed to be at school today but showed up anyway. a campus police officer asked him to leave. when he didn't the officer searched him and found an unloaded handgun in his backpack. estevez will be charged as an adult. coming up in the broadcast, the threat of syria using chemical weapons, the defense secretary on notice. a toxic cloud of gas blankets the sky in a popular city. metro making another change to the silver line, they say because of safety concerns.

there is no mass-produced human. so we created the extraordinarily comfortable sleep number experience. a collection of innovations designed around a bed with dualair technology that allows you to adjust to the support your body needs. each of your bodies. our sleep professionals will help you find your sleep number setting. exclusively at a sleep number store. sleep number. comfort individualized. this holiday season, give the gift that's magical: the innovative airfit adjustable pillow at special 30% savings.

defense secretary leon panetta said the united states remains very concerned that syria's president, bashar assad, may use chemical weapons. syria, of course, in the midst of a violent civil war, speaking at a conference today panetta said if chemical weapons are used, there will be consequences. >> the president has made very clear that the assad regime ought not to make the mistake of

thinking that somehow it can use chemical weapons on their own people and get away with that. >> secretary of state hillary rodham clinton today met with russia's foreign minister and syria's u.n. peace envoy to negotiate a peace strategy for that country. egyptian president mohamed morsi is asking for a dialogue with protesters. demonstrators are upset about the constitutional declaration that morsi is granted more power. he said he will go through with it. a toxic cloud forced a mass evacuation in downtown buenos aires, argentina today. a shipping container filled with pesticides exploded and caused a cloud of gas. people ran out of offices with their faces covered in an effort to escape the fumes. many people complained that the sulfur-like odor called mild respiratory irritation.

the fire is now reportedly und control. new of a change to the metro's silver line that could cost millions. they said it's a crucial improfit for safety. adam tuss is live at the lafaunt metro station with more on how this could impact computers. adam? >> reporter: doreen, plans are changing for the silver line, and not only could it cost the transit agency more, but it could also leave some riders with a very long wait. here's the problem. this is what's known as an interlocking, or in plain speak a place where trains can turn around. it sits just outside the armory station on the blue and orange lines. the issue, it's not really big enough for trains to turn around quickly and safely. >> trains are going to be running very fast, braking, starting, stopping. we're going to be jerking and moving this superstructure back and forth. a lot of concern came out of that. >> reporter: the sill ler line was originally supposed to start

in northern virginia, follow the blue and orange lines through the downtown core of d.c. and end at stadium armory. but because of the turn-around issue, trains will now have to run out to largo town center and turn around there. metro said it just found the problem this year as part of a technical review. >> frankly, it's all driven by the fact that we want a safe and reliable operation. >> reporter: metro board members were briefed on the subject today. blue line riders could actually see service through roslynn reduced because of this change. now, the silver line is scheduled to open in about a year. this design change could cost metro about $4.5 million. reporting live, adam tuss, news4. thank you, adam. back out to the ellipse. doug kammerer has been down there all afternoon and evening covering the lighting of the national christmas tree. what's going on down there now, doug? >> reporter: well, right now we

have col birksf bie caillat about to sing silver bells. i was really excited to see her. there you go. there she is. guys, i'll tell you, this is going to be a fantastic event not only for tonight, but through the next couple of weeks. we're going through four weeks. you want to make sure you come down to the ellipse right outside the white house. not just the national christmas tree, but also they have santa, santa will be here every day inside santa's workshop. a great place to bring the kids. of course, you've got not only the tree, but a fantastic train set that goes all the way around the tree. numerous different trains. i know my son loves trains, so this is a great place to bring the younger kids because they would have a great time. when you're touring around during the holiday season, this is definitely a place you want to come. as far as the weather's concerned, it's a little on the cold side. we've been talking about the cooldown over the last couple of days. veronica johnson, over the last couple of years, we've seen a

freezing cold one. a cold, real cold national christmas tree lighting. this one i would classify as just cold. not too bad. >> yeah, today you're getting off a little easy, doug. so maybe you can bring something back from the national christmas tree lighting. how about an ornament for the weather center? >> reporter: i don't think that's allowed. but i'll see who i can talk to. >> all right. let's go ahead and look at the weather. as doug said, it's not too bad out there right now. a little cold, and we'll see the temperatures drop. there will be freezing again by tomorrow morning. today we stayed in the 40s. 44 degrees the high temp for today. we started out in the mid-30s. at 35 degrees. but our average high, 50. and you know what, we haven't had many real cold days to deal with. we are going to see another warm-up on the way. and it's going to come pretty

soon. 41 degrees our current temperature. the sun going down today at 4:46. by tomorrow morning, we are going to have a southeasterly wind and lots of clouds across the area. frederick, maryland, 32 degrees. 36 in gaithersburg. 41 degrees in d.c. and 30s just down to our south and west. the other thing we're watching is already an area of rain down south. southern areas of west virginia, down through western north carolina, around kentucky, and more rain, too, back in aas of michigan, around illinois, chicago's wet. st. louis, missouri, too. there's the cold front. there's the area of low pressure coming up from the south, all helping to deliver a little bit of wet weather by tomorrow morning. 36, 37 degrees, a few light showers that i think will start around 4:00 a.m., 5:00 a.m. and continue tomorrow until only about 11:00 a.m. for the afternoon, it's going to be dry. look, there we'll have clouds still around. it will be mostly cloudy. then our chance for those saturday morning showers, those i think will stay right up north

of the maryland border. just skirting the area. we will, however, have some morning fog on saturday. and a little bit of late-day sunshine. it is going to be plenty warm, so don't worry about those clouds on saturday. sunday, a little cooler. it will be a northeasterly wind with showers coming in i think late in the day on sunday. so this will be a weekend now that we can salvage and get out there and enjoy. increasing clouds for your evening. pretty nice, though, 35 to 39 degrees. if you like it a little on the cool side. by morning, we're cold again. a few sprinkles and light showers. you'll need the small umbrella for tomorrow. the high getting up just to 55 degrees. and 65 degrees for sunday. and then as we get into monday, that will be our best chance of rain. in fact, on monday, 69 to 70 degrees. the high temperature may even be a little bit of thunder down south across eastern virginia and carolinas this upcoming weekend with the weather system. could be a severe weather

outbreak, in fact, across texas and areas in the deep south. by tuesday, cold again. we could be looking at a few flakes of snow. maybe some ice pellets around here. from rain and warm to a little bit of winter by early next week. >> enjoy the weekend while we can. ahead, a mystery on a local farm. what's attacking the sheep. and we'll report on some same-sex couples who have been waiting a long time to get a marriage license. coming up in sports, hockey's back, at least for a night at verizon center. [ male announcer ] this commercial is not about getting fios;

it's about getting fios. that moment after you finally got it, that you actually get it. when you can see blades of artificial grass in their full glory, you get it. or the first time you download a two-hour movie in two minutes, you get it. because once you've got it, you get it. [ female announcer ] it's faster. it's better. so, what are you waiting for? now you can get fios internet, tv and phone for just $79.99 a month guaranteed for two years with a two year agreement. act now and we'll add a special bonus -- $300 back. it's an amazing holiday deal. don't wait, this is a limited time offer. fios brings you internet ranked the fastest in the nation, and the best tv picture quality. it's 100% fiber optic, 100% different from cable. get fios for an amazing price online, just $79.99 a month guaranteed for two years with a two year agreement. and don't forget your special bonus -- $300 back. or get this great price with no annual contract. hurry. this holiday deal ends soon. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities go to verizon.com/greatdeal today. at 800-974-6006 tty/v. that's verizon.com/greatdeal.

and see why millions have chosen fios over cable. gay and lesbian couples in maryland can now pick up their maerj licenses at courthouses around the state. in a proclamation, the governor martin o'malley confirmed the results of the same-sex question. that allowed the marriage licenses to be issued. chris gordon reports on the first couples to get the licenses. >> reporter: elizabeth makenna was excited, arriving early at the montgomery county circuit court in rockville.

she got a marriage license for her and partner of ten years. it seemed to have been very important for you to be the first one. why? >> because i just wanted to get in there as soon as possible, so i knew we could get the date for the ceremony. and just so we can be legal and normal. >> reporter: elizabeth makenna and her partner have reserved the ceremonial room here at the montgomery county courthouse for their civil marriage ceremony to be performed on january the 3rd. that's 1-3-13. >> i'll be as excited as she is doing the ceremony. we'll speak of spouse, instead of husband and wife. it will be a spouse. and at the end i'll say, by the authority vested in me, as clerk of the circuit court for montgomery county, i now pronounce you as married. >> we're crazy about each other. and we're going to get married. >> reporter: in november, maryland voters approved question 6 for marriage

equality. today the governor signed the referendum into law. it takes effect new year's day. karen of maryland said this is one of the best days of her life. her partner asked we not identify her because of her job. >> we're so excited that on our 30th anniversary, we will be married. and it unites us completely. we always felt we were married. but now it's legal. >> reporter: the courthouse and other public buildings will be closed on new year's day. but for same-sex couples planning a private ceremony, they can legally get married at 12:01 a.m. and celebrate the new year and their new life together. in montgomery county, maryland, chris gordon, news4. same-sex couples celebrated today in washington state as a new law legalizing gay marriage took effect there. dozens gathered at the king county auditor's office in seattle to get state licenses. more than 250 of them were

issued. meanwhile, marijuana smokers in the state are legally lighting up this evening as a new law legalizing krek creation al marijuana use took effect. under the measure people can have up to an ounce of pot, however, they're not allowed to smoke it in public. president barack obama paid a visit to a family in fairfax county today as part of the push to avoid what they call the fiscal cliff. the president heard how tax increases would affect a middle class family like that one if no deal is reached by the end of the year. democrats and republicans are still at an impasse over raising taxes for the top 2% of the nation's earners. police arrested a 17-year-old student in montgomery county who brought a gun to school this morning. the campus officer arrested octavio estevez in rock vail. he was not supposed to be at school today but showed up anyway. the campus officer asked him to leave. when he didn't, the officer searched him and found an unloaded handgun in his

backpack. exclusive details about efforts to relocate the fbi headquarters on pennsylvania avenue northwest. d.c. officials have privately said they would support moving the fbi to prince george's county if the county would allow the redskins to move back into the district. today the county publicly dismissed that idea. tonight police are searching for clues in what they believe to be a planned attack in a northern virginia hotel. someone sexually assaulted a female hotel clerk last night in woodbridge. pat collins has more on the call that led up to it. >> it scares me. it scares me to death. >> reporter: that's sherri brown at the econo lodge here in woodbridge. she was here last night, when a 33-year-old clerk was sexually assaulted. >> i'm scared to go outside at nighttime. i'm not even going to go get no ice. >> reporter: cops back at the scene today looking for more

evidence. more information. last night, they went room to room to check things out. >> you had to show your driver's license, they took a picture of you and searched your room. >> reporter: police tell the story this way. they say around 10:00 last night, a man calls the office and tells the clerk he's locked out of his second-floor room. she leaves the office and goes outside to help him out. as she climbs the stairs, a masked man with a knife comes up from behind and forces her into that room. >> when she gets inside, she's rendered unconscious. and she wakes up to him, the suspect, assaulting her. >> reporter: this does not appear to be a spur of the moment attack. imagine what that suspect had to do. he had to know that the clerk on duty last night was a woman. he had to know the phone number of the econo lodge.

he had to come up with a story to lure her out of the office. and he had to know that that room, the room he forced her into, was vacant. on november 18th, there was an attempted assault of a cleaning lady at the econo lodge. police made an arrest in that case. and on november 17th, police say there was an attempted assault of a woman at the rodeway motel down the street. no arrest in that case, but police believe it's not related to the sex assault last night. at the econo lodge they say they plan to add more security cameras, more security lights, and even a security guard. in prince william county, i'm pat collins, news4. heightened security also on the campus of george washington univsity. that's because an employee there said she was attacked. it happened tuesday inside rice hall. the woman says a man tried to

sexually assault her in a bathroom on the third floor of that building. campus security says the suspect had to have a card to get inside after hours. rice hall houses the office of admissions, among other departments. campus police are investigating, and they have stationed an officer inside that building. we now have surveillance photos of a bombing suspect who damaged an atm machine outside a bank in fredericksburg, virginia. police are hoping the images will lead to an arrest. it happened early yesterday morning at the virginia credit union. somebody put an explosive device at the base of the atm near the drive-in window. the bank and six apartments nearby were temporarily evacuated. for the second time in a few weeks, something attacked several animals on a ga gaithersburg farm. they woke up to find several of their sheep dead. it appears to be the work of a

coyote or wild dog. the owners of the farm are nervous. >> i have a child myself. a 10-year-old little girl. and we have so many kids in the surrounding area and they all play outside. they think it's more than one animal is responsible for the attacks. an suv slammed into two businesses at a wheaton strip mall this morning about 11:30 in the 2500 block of anals avenue. it went through the front of a hair salon and check cashing business but nobody was hurt here. just before 5:00 this evening, the national family lit the national christmas tree down on the ellipse. >> reporter: saw it all go down, still going down right now in the ellipse. rocking james taylor, just stepped on the stage right after the president said a couple of words, greeted everybody here, thanked everybody for coming and talked about the christmas season ahead of us. as far as james taylor is concerned, he's singing winter

wonderland right now. i love his outfit tonight. that's typical james taylor right there. as far as our weather's concerned, things are looking pretty good here. a little earlier this evening, as you mentioned, jim, the first family did in fact turn on our national christmas tree. you can see it right there behind me, off to the right here, right in front of the white house, just off of the stage. the family came on, counted down to five. and went ahead and lit that tree. a lot of excitement as the president took the stage to light the tree. the tree, new this year. and one thing the president said when he was talking about in his remarks, is the tree was planted a couple of days before sandy made its way onshore. the third tree in the last three years, not going to have a problem. mrs. obama, the first lady also

took the stage a little bit earlier, doing something she does every year, reading it was the night before christmas. >> i sprang from the bed to see what was the matter. >> away to the window i flew like a flash, tore open the shutters and threw up the sash. >> the moon on the breast of the new fallen snow gave the luster of midday to objects below. when what to my wondering eyes should appear -- >> reporter: of course, she did a great job as well, out here throughout the rest of the evening hours. people still here. they sold 14,000 seated tickets out there, 3,000 tickets in the interior pi tby the stage, and nearly 3,000 people out here. we'll show you how things are setting up. temperaturewise, we're in the 30s across much of the region. we're going to continue to see the temperatures going down over the next few hours. but not bad at all. what we're going to be talking about later on, veronica johnson will be back to tell you how warm things get after another brief cooldown. it was cool enough, just in time

for the national christmas tree to be lit. it feels very much like winter here, as it did the last couple of days. temperatures in the 70s. kind of happy things have cooled off just a little bit. jim and doreen? >> now we know it's the holiday season, the national tree is lit. next, a sparkling gem. a 10,000-carat jewel on display in the district. and as we go

[ telephones ringing ] at chevy's year-end event, we have 11 vehicles that offer an epa-estimated 30 mpg highway or better. yeah? hey. hey. where's your suit? oh, it's casual friday. oh. [ male announcer ] chevy's giving more.

this holiday season, get a 2013 malibu ls for around $199 per month, or get $1,000 holiday bonus cash. breaking news in maryland tonight. the court of appeals has issued a stay on a judge's decision in the battle over a vacated state delegate seat. that means greg hall, a community activist whose nomination had been withdrawn by the party when his criminal background became known, that means he is still the nominee. it also prevents the prince george's county democratic central committee from withdrawing its nomination for now. hall is trying to take office in the 24th district seat which had been vacated after the lawmaker who held it, tiffany olson, was removed from office for stealing money from the general assembly. the court of appeals plans to expedite this case. the national children's museum is preparing now for a

grand opening. that museum will open at its new location at national harbor next friday. crews are putting the finishing touches on it now. it's a 23,000-square foot building and all kinds of exhibits inside. the museum will focus on geography and teaching children about different cultures. >> we're trying to promote global citizenship, and we do it in a way that's very playful. >> standard admission for the museum is $10. the second phase of the museum includes an outdoor space. that will feature community gardens and amphitheater. that is scheduled to open this summer. there's a sparkling new gem in town that you might want to check out. take a look at the world's largest aquamarine. the smithsonian's national museum of natural history revealed the dom pedro gem this morning. it was collected in brazil in

the late '80s. the blue-green crystal weighs nearly five pounds. that's 10,363 carats. it's more than a foot tall. it will be on permanent display at our museum of natural history. didn't you get something just short of that as a necklace tor your wife? two and a half pounds or something like that? >> my bank account would not have withstood that. talking hockey, at least for a night. the hershey bears taking over verizon center. play-off implications on the line as the redskins do battle with the ravens at fedex on

♪ santa claus is coming to town ♪ the president said we've got to sing one more song. obviously the first family up there singing. they brought santa claus out, all the acts that came out tonig tonight, all out there right now with the president. neil patrick harris, the president now waving good-bye to everybody, thank you very much for coming. we appreciate it. and he's now getting ready to take off back to his motorcade, back across the street here at president's park.

let's show you the weather over the next couple of days. a joyous occasion right now. a beautiful night. temperatures right now into the 30s all across the area. that's where we'll stay for the rest of the evening tonight. not going to be an extremely cold night, not as cold as last night. we have cloud cover moving in across the area. you can see shower activity making its way in from the west and southwest. it should be here by early tomorrow morning. so rush hour, you may have a couple of rain drops on your windshield. i'll show you the future weather over the next couple of hours. rain beginning most likely around 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 in the morning. around 8:00, notice where that rain is, right along the i-95 corridor and up to the north and west. heads-up, a little bit of rain but it will move out of here by about 2:00 in the afternoon. temperatures tonight are going to be on the cool side, when you wake up in the morning town do about 30 degrees in frederick, about 36 in the washington,

d.c., area. clouds on the increase tonight, chance of showers early tomorrow morning. but then by tomorrow afternoon, not bad. we'll start to see a little bit more in the way of sunshine. we'll call it a mixture of clouds and sun. high temperatures in the low to mid-50s. guys, this event is wrapping up. we're wrapping up, too. we're about done. veronica johnson back a little bit later on with the seven-day forecast. i gis we'll see you from here next year. >> we're counting on it, doug. >> planning ahead already. you know, it's clear, sometimes they've got to knock somebody down. >> everybody's talking about the rookies, robert griffin iii, and i know they're not the hogs. but they have been remarkably consistent this year. the redskins offensive line had an off-season question mark and one of the ber lines in the nfl this season.

staying healthy is a major reason why. the offensive line decimated by injuries. the skins had to start nine different offensive line combinations. this season, the redskins have started the same five offensive linemen every single game. the big ugly, never get the credit they deserve. but their teammates know valuable the offensive line has been this season. >> they made this offensive move. without the running game, we couldn't do nothing. >> when you have guys like the receivers and robert and hall, you know, alfred, you know, they know that at the end of the day, we've got to pat them on the back? that's the whole thing. i always knew we were a good unit. to me it's not a surprise. we're just doing what we're supposed to do. >> we're very blue collar approach, we approach our jobs. we're perfectly fine with alfred and the receivers and robert,

you know, getting all the praise. we're perfectly fine, as long as we win, we're happy. >> meanwhile, that man, the former team the ravens, coming off a disappointing loss to pittsburgh. normally losing to the steelers is nothing to be ashamed of. but the steelers were playing their third string quarterback, charlie batch. the ravens defense hasn't been as stout as normal this year, ranking 25th in yards allowed. but baltimore is still getting it done. they come to fedex field on sunday looking for their tenth win of the season. >> we have four games left in the regular season here, and we're playing, you know, some very good opponents, washington, and we have to make sure that, first of all, we do everything we can to win these games, and win this game. and that's going to require putting points on the board. >> it's going to be quite the game. it's not going to be any different than last week. it's going to be a slugfest. it's two teams going out there and fighting.

we're fighting for a play-off berth. and they're fighting to keep their play-off hopes alive. you're talking about two different teams with a lot at stake with this game. >> ray rice, good running back with a good point. i'm interested to see how much purple is at fedex field. obviously they're so close. there were a lot of giants fans -- >> awful lot of giants fans in that stadium. remember -- >> steelers. >> yeah, steelers. >> we can't let that happen. >> the steelers just permeate every stadium there is. they're great fans. >> they're good fans. >> you hate them, but you respect them at the same time. speaking of respect, hockey. i don't know why i said speaking of respect, but we're talking hockey now. the nhl lockout has been going on for a while. the two sides have been talking for three straight days, which is a good sign. there will be hockey at the verizon center. the hershey bears in town taking on norfolk out of oaks.

looking on this morning as the bears practice at ketler, keeping a keen eye on all the guys, especially that man, brayden, a big part of the caps' success late last season. for a young goalie, just being on the ice is crucial. of course, he would rather be playing for the capitals, but both player and coach seem to be taking the lockout in stride. >> you get the work stoppage. it happens in all walks of life. not just sports. labor issues happen all the time. you have to be a professional about it. mature about it. it's a work stoppage. it happened to me as a player. you didn't want it to happen then, you don't want it to happen now. but that's part of life. >> everyone wishes the nhl would come back, no matter where you are. it's a no-brainer. but it is what it is. it's the situation in front of us. i'm definitely lucky to be in the spot i am right now. >> capitals/hershey bears.

talking hoops. the lakers aren't winning many games, but kobe's still scoring points, the youngest player to reach 30,000 points. he accomplished that feat last night against the hornets. kobe, wilt chamberlain, carl malone, kareem, reaching the 30,000 point plateau. for more news and notes, let's hit the hellie pad. the steelers are out, big ben is back against the chargers. roger goodell, the nfl commissioner, mulling over the idea of eliminating kickoffs. that would be interesting. a vikings linebacker has an interesting way to boost the team's home fielddvantage in chicago on sunday. chad greenway set up the fan's

super-duper drunk. drink liquor, not beer. probably a wise idea to not listen to greenway. today he tried to clarify his comment saying in an interview on espn 1000 in chicago that perhaps i went a little too far. >> please explain to us why they would want to eliminate kickoffs? >> for injury reasons. greg schiano, the coach of the buccaneers, used to coach at rutgers, you may remember that he had a player there who was palyzed. >> exactly. >> and so they've moved the kickoff back, right? so you don't have to return as many more kicks. there's more touchbacks. they're saying if every other kick is a touchback, eliminate the kickoff altogether. >> interesting idea. >> yeah. >> it would

veronica is here with one more check on our chilly weather forecast. >> just plain old chilly out there this evening. that's it. that's all you get. tomorrow morning we'll get a little wet. in fact, a cold rain for us tomorrow morning. we'll be starting out at 30 to 36 degrees. not a lot, but enough where it will start out kind of lousy tomorrow. the high 55, and feeling a

little like spring on saturday. we're back into the mid-60s. and then down again into the mid-50s for sunday. sunday our best chance of rain late in the day. then again on monday as we look ahead to the cold week next week coming up. >> okay. thanks, veronica. it's like an old community sing-along. everybody's in for the act. one more time, they're down at the national tree lighting ceremony. the president, the first family, and everybody else probably including doug are singing christmas carols. >> maybe we can hear it this time --

>>